US' plot to reclassify China as 'developed' is a bullying move

Xin Yan says Washington's effort to revoke nation's legitimate status is part of its containment strategy and is doomed to failure

As China achieved the first centenary goal of eliminating absolute poverty and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, there are some voices questioning China's legitimate status as a developing country. In June, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the Ending China's Developing Nation Status Act, which requires the US Department of State to change China's status as a "developing country" in international organizations which the US participates in or is a part of, and to modify its status to "developed country".

"Developed country", sounds like praise, right? But it is not hard to figure out that the goal of Washington's maneuvers surrounding China's developing country status are to increase China's development costs, force China to assume international responsibilities beyond its ability, and serve the US strategy of containing China.

It is necessary to take a holistic view of China's developing country status. Although China has made great economic progress - the country's overall GDP ranks second globally - its development is still unbalanced and inadequate. In China, there are not only modern metropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, but also regions with relatively backward development. At 9.6 million square kilometers, China is an extremely large country with a population of more than 1.4 billion. No matter how big the economic aggregate is, when divided by 1.4 billion, it will become very small. On the other hand, any small challenge will become big when multiplied by 1.4 billion.

In 2022, China's per capita GDP was $12,700, one-fifth that of developed economies and only one-sixth that of the US. Tertiary industry accounts for 52.8 percent of China's economic output, lower than the average 70 percent of developed countries. China's Human Development Index was 0.768 in 2021, ranking only 79th in the world. China should be recognized as a developing country in accordance with any of those standards. The US' move to classify China as "a developed country" is obviously not in line with the economic development of China and the world.

As a developing country, China has made important contributions to global development. China has never used its developing country status as a "shield" to evade international responsibilities or as a "steppingstone" to seek additional benefits. Instead, it has been proactively making contributions to the world. From 2013 to 2021, for instance, China's average contribution to world economic growth was 38.6 percent, higher than that of the G7 countries combined. China was the first country to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals, contributing more than 70 percent to the world's poverty reduction. China is also the second-largest contributor to UN membership fees and peacekeeping funds, and its share is far higher than that of developed countries. In the World Trade Organization, the actual special and differential treatment clauses enjoyed by China are far lower than the average level of other developing countries.

It is the US that disregards international rules and undermines the operation of multilateral institutions by hindering the share reform of the International Monetary Fund and the selection of members of the WTO appellate body. So, it is quite clear who is "taking advantage of" the existing global system to damage the development rights of others.

China's developing country status is rooted in history. In 1964, the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development identified the countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America that had achieved national liberation and followed the path of independent development after World War II as "developing countries". Over the decades, developing countries have always represented the forces for world peace and against power politics.

President Xi Jinping stressed that China will always be a member of the big family of developing countries and will unswervingly strive to improve their representation and discourse power in the global governance system. History shows that China has stood side by side with developing countries against all odds, be it under the Bandung Conference, the Group of 77, the United Nations, or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Today, China and other developing countries have closer cooperation on areas from Juncao technology to high-speed rail projects, and more outcomes will be delivered from the Belt and Road Initiative and many other global initiatives put forth by President Xi. No matter how China develops in the future, it will work together with the developing world to protect shared rights and common interests. The US will not succeed in driving a wedge between China and other developing countries or stopping the collective rise of the big family of developing countries.

It's not up to the US to decide whether China is a developing country. The US can neither change the fact that China is still a developing country, nor stop China from moving toward national rejuvenation. Rather than trying to figure out how to pin the label of "developed country" on China, the US would better think about how to remove its own labels of "bully" and "hegemony". Its plot to deprive China's right to development by revoking its developing country status is doomed to failure.

The author is a Hong Kong-based political commentator.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.